


The Rainbow Room

by Norickayer



Series: Postcards from Elsewhere: A Collection of Young Avengers one-shots [1]
Category: Young Avengers
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Everyone is Trans, Identity Issues, Multi, not actually Tommy-bashing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2015-03-03
Packaged: 2018-03-16 03:20:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3472523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Norickayer/pseuds/Norickayer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate Bishop is trying to juggle a GA position at her college's Rainbow room with getting her MFA. Billy is trying to include their brother in their new life. David is trying to confess his feelings. Loki is trying to have fun. Tommy is just trying to understand what's going on.</p><p>Oddly enough, it's the last bit that causes the most trouble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Rainbow Room

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Awkwardness of a well-meaning but clueless character asking offensive questions. One case of accidental misgendering. One case of gender invalidation.

_“The sensationalization of violent crime has-“_

An ominous creaking sound distracted Kate Bishop from her frantic typing. Her eyes flew from the computer screen to the group of young adults scattered throughout the room.

 _Billy, Teddy, Noh-Varr_ , she counted off in her head _, Eli, David, Cassie_ -

 _Oh no_ , she thought, _where’s Tommy_?

The creaking continued, and this time even Billy looked up from staring deeply into Teddy’s eyes.

“Where’s your brother?” Kate snapped.

Billy’s eyes widened in horror, but they could only shrug. They didn’t know.

“Shit,” Kate cursed as she extracted herself from the desk, kicking her backpack in an attempt to get up faster.

She darted for the back room, the only part of the Rainbow Room not visible from her desk.

The door burst open with the weight of Kate’s body.

There was Tommy, dancing on the conference table. There was Loki, laughing herself sick. There was Nate, choosing the next song on faer iPod.

“OUT, NOW!” Kate demanded. “Tommy Shepherd you get off that table!”

Nate scrambled to shut off the music.

Loki fell onto the floor and continued laughing.

“Aw, come on,” Tommy whined. “You never let me do anything fun!” His eyes sparkled with laughter, and even his whining voice was full of humor, inviting Kate in on the joke.

If Tommy was a little less endearing, Kate would have kicked him out of her office months ago.

“No,” Kate countered, “I never let you do anything _destructive_.”

“Eli let us do it!” Tommy pointed out. Kate found this to be particularly misleading. She knew for a fact that Eli was wearing noise-cancelling headphones in the hopes that he’d be able to get work done for once.

“And you,” Kate continued, looking down at Loki, still lying on the floor, “You’re older than him! You should know better!”

Loki had taken a couple years off before returning to college, and thus was in her mid-twenties. She was really closer to the age of the grad students than the undergrads. And yet, she still insisted on hanging out with Tommy and David and generally making a nuisance of herself.

“Oh Kate,” Loki sighed, “I never tire of your unrealistic expectations.”

Kate resisted the urge to scream. Instead, she settled for manually pulling Tommy down off the table and leaving the room.

On her way back to her desk, she swung by Eli’s corner. As soon as she was close, she reached out and smacked his shoulder loud enough that across the room, Cassie Lang winced.

“Hey!” Eli complained. He reached up and took off his headphones. “What was that for?”

“You know your job is to supervise these nerds, right?” Kate asked, gesturing to the students.

“It’s your job, too,” Eli retorted.

Kate rolled her eyes. “Just pay more attention, okay? Tommy almost broke a table and I would’ve been too far away to stop him.”

She probably shouldn’t be talking about The Tommy Problem out loud in the middle of the Rainbow Room, but her frustration got the better of her. She didn’t much care about embarrassing him or being unprofessional. She just wanted to get through a day without having to wrangle Billy’s straight brother.

Managing Tommy is a full time job, and Kate is beginning to feel sorry for Billy. She also sees why they chose not to room with him.

“When does David get back from class?” she asked the room at large. Why check the schedule when you have six people who are way too involved in each other’s lives?

“Uhhh, three thirty,” Teddy answers after a pause.

-

“Welcome to the Rainbow Room, part of UYA’s new Safer Spaces Initiative- oh hey Kate.” David cut off his script once he realized who it was entering the room under the dripping wet hoodie.

“Ugh,” Kate groaned.

“So I guess it’s raining,” David observed with a smile.

“Fuck you,” Kate replied, setting the soaked sweatshirt on a plastic chair to dry.

“Oh hey, America was in earlier. She was looking for you.”

Kate pressed her hands to her face. Why her? Why today?

“Oh wow, if I knew you’d react like that I wouldn’t have told her your schedule.”

“You _didn’t_!”

David’s smile betrayed him. “Okay, you’re right. I didn’t. She’s got it bad, doesn’t she?”

“She is _seventeen_ , David! A _minor_!”

“Must be hard being so universally adored,” David deadpanned.

“Oh shut up. They only do this because they think I have my shit together. All these kids are so confused and turned around that the find even the hint of competence attractive,” Kate explained. At least Cassie grew out of her crush. That had been an awkward few months.

“Oh that’s charming. I’ll tell them you said that.”

“No you won’t,” Kate replied, calling David’s bluff. “Besides, I don’t think Teddy likes narks.”

David’s expression didn’t change an inch. Kate would almost think him unaffected, if he hadn’t also turned red.

“Did you seriously use the word ‘nark’?” David asked, trying to distract from his own dismal love life.

“I’m full of surprises today.”

-

The phone on Kate’s desk was ringing when she walked in the door.

She dropped her backpack on the carpet and lunged for the phone. Her fingers just grazed it, sending it flying off the receiver, prompting a desperate scramble that ended in Kate sitting under her desk cradling the phone to her ear.

“This is UYA’s Rainbow Center, Kate Bishop speaking,” she rattled off like a pro.

“Hello?” asked the voice on the other end. “Um, can I talk to the person in charge?”

“That’s me,” Kate confirmed. Even in queer student services, people somehow expected a guy.

“Okay. Hi. Uh. Look, I’m Karolina Dean. I’m the secretary of the GSA, you know? Well we didn’t manage to book our usual meeting space this semester. S _omeone forgot to put in the request_ \- and I was wondering if there was a way we could use the Rainbow Room for that?”

Kate blinked, trying to find the actual question in all of the _ums_ and tangents.

“Oh, uh,” Kate began. _Could_ they? She tried to remember the rules for using the space. “Well we have a room in the back you could use,” she began uncertainly, “but the front space is supposed to remain a free-study space, so we can’t host events there during study hours.”

“Oh that’s great!” Karolina cheered. “Our meetings are at night anyway. Thanks so much!”

“-Wait!” Kate called, but Karolina was already gone.

Night meetings?

A staff member had to be present at all times in the Rainbow Room. If Kate just agreed to have the GSA host meeting there, that means she (or David or Clint or Eli) would have to be there.

…Well, her advisor did owe her a favor.

-

“Who are all of you?” Clint asked as seven unfamiliar kids filed into the Rainbow Room at 8pm that Monday. He wasn’t _that_ out of the loop. Sure, he had his own work to do and he didn’t spend a lot of time supervising the Rainbow Room, but he was familiar with most of the regulars.

He didn’t recognize a single person here.

“I’m Molly!” said the youngest girl, a tiny blonde with a fleece hat. Clint stared.

“Are you really a UYA student?” he asked, looking her up and down. What was she, nine?

Molly’s friendly smile dropped off her face.

“Yes,” she said coldly. “I’m sixteen.”

“We’re part of the dual-enrollment program,” a similarly short brunette explained. “I’m Klara.”

“Oh. Nice to meet you,” Clint said distantly. They had a dual-enrollment program?

“I’m Karolina, the Secretary,” a tall blonde introduced. “This is Xavin, our Treasurer, Gert, PR, and Nico, our President!” Nice, a scary-looking girl in all black, raised a hand.

“Hi,” she said without any real enthusiasm.

“And the others?” Clint asked, eyeing the boys.

“Yeah,” Molly said hesitantly, “That’s Chase and Victor. They don’t really do much.”

“Hey!” Chase (or Victor) objected.

Clint knew the feeling.

-

“Hello, this is the Rainbow Room, Kate Bishop speaking,” Kate rattled off, holding the phone to her ear with only her shoulder.

“Are you facilities open right now?” asked the voice on the other end.

Kate furrowed her brows. The hours of operation were posted on the door and online. It wasn’t hard to find.

“Yeah,” she answered, glancing at the full room. Every chair and couch was full, with several people sitting on the carpet as well.

“Oh wonderful!” said the other voice. “I need to speak to the most attractive person in the room.”

Kate took the phone from her shoulder and held it at arm’s length. She stared at it.

“You need to talk to the most attractive person in the room,” she repeated.

“Yes,” the voice confirmed.

Kate held back a sigh. She held out the phone.

“Teddy, it’s for you!”

Teddy Altman looked up, mystified. He extracted himself from the couch carefully and walked over to Kate’s desk. She gestured for him to sit down, as the phone’s cord was only so long.

She stole his seat on the couch instead. It had been a long day, after all.

Over at her desk, Teddy pressed his ear to the phone. Over the din of the room, Kate couldn’t hear what was said, but she could see the blush growing on Teddy’s face.

“Better move quick, Billy,” Kate teased. “Somebody else might just snatch him up!”

“Wait, Billy and Teddy aren’t dating already?” Noh-Varr asked.

Billy sank lower into the couch cushions.

Teddy walked back to the couch slowly, deep in thought.

“So it was Loki, right?” Kate asked as she gave up her seat.

Teddy rolled his eyes. “Of _course_ it was Loki.”

-

“Welcome to the monthly Alphabet Soup Lunch Chat,” Kate announced.

Around her sat young adults on a variety of plastic chairs, couches, and cushioned stools. Usually the furniture was arranged artfully around the space, but today she and Eli had pushed it all to the center of the room. It formed a rough, if ugly circle.

“You all are literally here every day, so I know you know the rules. On the off-chance that some of you need reminding, or in the case that someone new ever shows up, here’s the deal: This is your time to discuss intra- and inter-community issues with your fellow students! Everyone is welcome at our Lunch Chats, allies and guests included. Be respectful, assume good faith, and remember the Vegas Rule,” Kate paused and looked at the circle of students expectantly.

“What’s said here stays here, what’s learned here leaves here,” the students chorused, with more or less enthusiasm.

“Great. Now, as if we don’t already know, let’s go around the room and introduce ourselves. I’ll start. Hi! I’m Kate Bishop, Grad Assistant. My pronouns are she/her.” Kate gestured to the person on her left to continue.

“I’m Noh-Varr, music major. Ze/hir.”

“Billy, Communications major. They/them.”

“Teddy, Bio major. He/him.”

“Eli, Poli-Sci, he/him or they/them.”

“Loki, undecided. Today it’s she/her.”

“David, information technology, he/him.”

“Tommy, he/her.”

There was muffled sniggering throughout the circle.

Eli sighed deeply. “Did you mean he/him, Tommy?”

Tommy blinked and looked around the circle. “Uh, yeah. What did I say?”

“Nate, history, fae/faer.”

“Jonas, they/them. Uh. Is this specifically a trans group?” Jonas looked around the circle curiously.

“No, this is for everyone,” Eli answered.

“Then why are we all-“ Jonas stopped, looking embarrassed. “I mean, I don’t want to assume-“

The group of students looked at each other.

“It just kind of happened?” Billy guessed. “I mean, other people used to hang around here, but they mostly joined the GSA and stopped coming around.”

“I guess they didn’t really need what this space provided,” David offered.

 “This is literally the only space on campus where people use my pronouns,” Eli admitted.

“-also, you work here,” Kate added.

“The fact that they’re paying me does help,” Eli admitted.

“I’m actually banned from all the other study lounges,” Loki told them.

“I hate my roommate so I hang out here between classes,” said America.

“This is place has the cleanest gender-neutral bathroom on campus!” said Noh-Varr.

“Wait, are you a lesbian or a trans?” Tommy asked suddenly, looking at America.

To Tommy’s left, Loki and Teddy traded horrified looks. “ _A trans_?” Loki mouthed to Teddy. Teddy shrugged helplessly.

America, to her credit, didn’t allow the clumsy question to catch her off-guard. She stared Tommy right in the eye, daring him to say something. “Both,” she said.

Tommy didn’t seem phased by her glare. “You can do that?” he asked, amazed.

“Clearly.”

Kate looked around the group. Not everyone was as blatant as Loki and Teddy, but all of them reacted in some way to Tommy’s question. Billy sunk down in their seat, Cassie crossed her arms, Nate got quiet, and David’s movements became stiff.

The introductions continued, but no one else said anything to Tommy.

That left it to Kate.

Kate hated being the responsible adult.

-

“Hey Kate, I just got your message, what did you want to talk about?”

Kate’s post-exam relaxation shattered, leaving her frowning softly. Even the softness of her mattress held no appeal. She shifted the cellphone to her other shoulder.

“It’s about Tommy,” she began, “I’m glad your brother feels comfortable in the space and all, but he’s been making people really uncomfortable. He’s been causing issues since he first showed up, but we were understanding about it. I mean, he’s your brother, he seemed really interested in learning, but now he’s crossing boundaries and kind of undermining our Safer Spaces mission.”

“Oh,” Billy’s voice was heavy, flat. “So you’re kicking him out.”

“No- maybe. I don’t know, Billy. But you need to talk to him- or I will.”

Kate really hoped Billy would do it, though. She’d seen the way Tommy looked at her, and she didn’t think talking with him alone would be a great idea.

“Right, yeah, I will. I’m so sorry about this.”

“It’s not your fault,” Kate said automatically. “He just needs some boundaries.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks,” Kate said with relief. She set the phone down and turned over.

“Who was that?” asked Noh-Varr’s sleepy voice.

“Just work stuff,” Kate admitted. “Do you have to take a shower before class?”

Noh-Varr thought this over.

“Hmm. If I rinse out my binder and let it dry overnight, I can probably get away with just washing my face,” ze decided.

“So you’re saying you’ve got time to spare?” Kate purred, propping herself up on her elbows and looking at her bed partner through her lashes.

“So much time,” Noh-Varr swore.

-

“Hi, this is the UYA Rainbow Room, Eli speaking.”

“Hello! This is Sylvie from the UYA _Voice_. We’re running a story on the new preferred name policy implemented in November. Is there anyone there I can interview for my story?”

Eli looked around the room. He frowned. He looked at the clock.

“Well I’ll be here until 3pm if you want to talk to me,” he decided.

“That’s perfect, I’ll see you then!” Sylvie chimed.

-

When Sylvie didn’t show, Eli shrugged to himself, shouldered his backpack, and went to class.

If she was skipping out on her responsibilities, it was no problem of his.

This was a mistake.

-

“So is Loki your preferred name or your real name?” asked the strange blonde girl sitting on a plastic chair.

Loki smiled. It was not a nice smile.

“Well I was considering Lucifer and Daemien, but this really felt right,” ze rambled.

Slyvie’s smile froze. “Uh. Right,” she said. “And uh, what was your birth name?” her hand hovered over her notepad.

“I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

David stood in the open doorway, silhouetted by the setting sun, and looking a bit like an avenging angel.

The students all relaxed a little, to see him.

“But I was just getting started-“ Slyvie complained.

“I’m sorry,” David said, blatantly lying, “but it’s the Rainbow Room Policy. If you’d like to interview students, you’ll have to do it in the courtyard.”

Slyvie looked around hopefully.

“I’ll let them know where to find you,” David assured her, ushering her out the door.

Then he turned to the gathered students.

“Anyone actually _want_ to talk to her?”

“Absolutely not,” Loki assured him. “I was taking one for the team.”

“Oh geeze, really?” David complained. “I leave for five minutes and someone invites the press? What the hell?”

“Uh, well,” Cassie began, “She said Eli invited her, so we figured it was going to be okay.”

“And you believed her?” David asked, incredulous, “Tommy uses that line all the time!”

-

“Geeze, who busted your balls?”

David didn’t bother to get up. He lie face-down on one of the Rainbow Room couches, but he recognized Tommy’s voice regardless.

“Don’t have balls,” David replied without humor.

Around him, conversations seemed to die down as the other students took notice of the new arrival.

“Right, sorry. It’s just something people say.”

“No, it really isn’t. I think it’s just you.”

“Well whatever. What’s got you down, nerd-face?”

David sighed.

“You know that guy I was flirting with?”

“The blond with the Beiber hair?”

“If you want to describe him in the least attractive terms possible, yes.”

“Sooo I’m guessing she rejected you,” Tommy said carefully, crouching next to the couch.

“ _He_ ,” David corrected irritably.

“I _said_ he!”

“UGH.”

“You’re way too hot for him anyway,” Tommy consoled, patting David on the back. “You’ll get yourself a real guy for a boyfriend.”

“Oh my _god_ ,” David whined.

Kate kept silent, but cast Billy a desperate look.

“Tommy!” Billy yelled from their seat across the room. “We’re leaving.” They stalked up to their brother and physically dragged him from the space.

“What-? Billy, come on! I was in the middle of a conversation-“

Tommy’s voice was but off by the glass and metal door easing closed.

There was a collective sigh of relief.

-

“Tommy, we have to talk,” Billy announced.

“Yeah, I kind of got that from how you dragged me out of the room,” Tommy replied, crossing his arms. “I’m not a dog, or a kid. You’re not the boss of me just cause you know this stuff better.”

Billy ran a hand through their hair, trying to mentally compose what they needed to say.

“Look, Tommy, I know you’re trying.”

Tommy pressed his lips together, and seemed to tense as if to defend himself at any moment.

“-and I appreciate that you’re trying to accept me and relate to my friends, but you’ve got to be more.. I dunno, gentle? You can’t just say that stuff to people, you come off like you’re studying particularly interesting bugs.”

Tommy’s shoulders remained tense, but his eyes held confusion rather than fear.

“I’m not- _your_ friends?” he asked, unable to focus on just one point.

“I know my gender stuff is hard for you,” Billy continued, undaunted. “We’re twins and it’s weird for you to have a queer and trans sibling. But like, I know you’re cis and straight, you don’t have to push yourself into my world. We’ll still be family, even if I’m not your brother anymore.”

“I- Billy-“ Tommy began.

“-but this isn’t a game or a hobby for us, you know. These are our _lives_. And people are entitled to privacy and respect, even if you don’t understand them-“

“ _Billy_ ,” Tommy repeated.

“ _What_?” his sibling snarled.

Tommy shook his head. “Uh, okay how to start with this…” he stared up and the ceiling and bit his lip, as if it held the answers he was looking for. “Okay. I’m not really sure what’s going on with me lately, but I’m not straight.”

Billy’s jaw dropped. They blinked.

“Or cis,” Tommy continued. “Probably.”

“So all those offensive questions-“ Billy said.

“How am I supposed to figure out what these feeling mean if I have nothing to compare it to?" Tommy replied, frustrated.

Billy was silent for a moment.

“Okay, let’s start with some Google searches.”

-

 


End file.
